Customer Reviews

Children's Mathematics: Cognitively Guided Instruction

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book revolutionized the way that I taught math in my classroom. I was a more informed instructor, and it allowed me to group, scaffold, and individualize my instruction. The year that I implemented these techniques into my fifth grade class, we made an average of two years growth in one year! Highly recommend this one!

Excellent resource for those wishing to guide students from informal understanding of solving word problems to problem solving. The authors' examples of the various problem types coupled with explanations and strategically placed video clips (CD included) guide even the most novice CGI instructor to a clear understanding of the problems and expected student strategies, classroom environment and expectations needed to implement this teaching strategy.

As a fourth and fifth grade teacher I was always under the impression that CGI was only for Kindergarten through third grade. However, once kids started filtering into my class who had recieved CGI instruction, I was blown away! Their critical thinking and ability to solve math problems (all the different types of word problems that the book recommends)was the most incedible thing I had ever seen students do. I immediately read this book and even went through some workshops and training through my school district.

The book explains the different types of math problems contexts for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, which most college of education programs do not include. For example: when creating subtraction word problems we need to pose some where the start is unknown (x - 5 = 6), some where the change is unknown (11- x = 6), and others where the result is unknown (11-6= x). When posed in a word context, contrary to our beliefs, students ARE able to reason through the problems and solve them. The book teaches you what types of solutions to expect from your students and how to implement CGI in your classroom.

When starting CGI for the first time, I highly recommend playing around with a few problem types at first so you do not get overwhelmed. It is a lot of fun and you can learn a lot about how your kids think if you just DON'T TELL THEM HOW TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS, but let them explore and be critical thinkers. :)

This is an excellent resource for anyone who wishes to understand children's mathematical thinking. It is a great tool for teachers.

This book is very understandable. This came recommended to me and it was a good choice. It's a thin book and nice easy read!

First of all, this is research, not a "math curriculum" or "program". This is about how children think about and understand math. I was very skeptical at first. However, after seeing the results in the classroom - I am a believer! Children understand a lot about mathematics that we don't give them credit for because they don't express their understanding in standard algorithms or with typical math vocabulary. CGI encourages the teacher to work with a student's natural understanding of math and to build on that. There is a teacher training that goes with this - it takes about 24 days of training over 3 years to complete. One of the more difficult trainings I have taken, (besides this book it also required a bottle of aspirin!) but without a doubt one of the very best! It is well worth the effort! Read the book, and if at all possible, take a CGI class!

I am really happy with my purchase. I bought it for a class and it is easy to intigrate the information in the text to the classroom. Thanks!

The idea behind CGI is that students intuitively understand mathematical concepts and they can develop a more refined understanding and make the math their own if allowed to work through problems that lead them to think more. This is all well and good, but it is totally insufficient.

A quick look at the problems reveals a key failing. Most of the problems use small numbers that children can deal with easily. Students may be able to come up with methods to solve word problems that involve 15 guppies and three jars (see page 107). But these same students may be totally unequipped to deal with 1562 guppies and 234 jars. CGI does not suggest that students be shown common algorithms for computation. Methods that students may devise for solving the simple problems may help with their understanding, but without supplemental instruction, it is unlikely that most students will be able to deal with more substantial problems. They may be able to tell you that you should divide the guppies into the jars, but can they DO it?

There seems to be some idea that if you teach method and algorithms, you won't teach concepts and students won't grasp the concepts. This can be an issue for teachers that don't understand the math, but CGI doesn't address that problem at all. This book doesn't suggest how to move beyond the basics - how do you get the very difficult idea of place value across to kids? How do kids learn how to arrive at the answer of a complex multiplication problem without a method being shown AND explained? Are kids really going to INVENT long-division for themselves?

To think that students are going to recreate 2000+ years of mathematical ideas as they progress through school is absurd.

The book was in pretty good condition--what I expected. However, it did not come with the CD's, which I needed for my class, so I was a bit inconvenienced.